Deliverance
by ThisIsMyMindPalace
Summary: Months after the Battle of New York ends, Loki returns to Earth, where S.H.I.E.L.D. takes him captive once again. Thor is determined to save his brother from a fate he swears he doesn't deserve. (Post-Avengers, multi-chapter.)
1. The Plan

_Deliverance_

_Chapter One – The Plan_

* * *

The comm link buzzed with life as a message came through. Bruce quickly pressed the button so he could hear the transmission better.

"—there? Hello? Anyone there?" Tony said through the speakers, his frantic voice barely making it through.

"Yes, I'm here," Bruce said, quickly adjusting the controls so he could hear him loud and clear. "What is it?"

"Something... something's wrong." Tony's voice was quiet and breathy. He sounded terrified.

"What's happened?"

"It's Steve... he's not... something's wrong, I don't know what happened... he's different..."

"What do you mean he's 'different?" Bruce asked, leaning closer to the speaker.

He could hear Tony's breath almost constantly catching in his throat as he spoke. "I-I don't know. I was in a room with him, and there was another man, and... and Steve's—" His voice cut off.

Bruce was far passed concerned now. "Steve is what, Tony? What's wrong with him?"

Tony's voice was louder and more panicked now. "He isn't Steve anymore."

* * *

_One Day Ago – Avengers Tower_

Bruce sat at one of the metal desks in the lab, studying Tony's notes about repulsor technology. He found them very interesting, and Tony said he wouldn't mind the extra mind to help him with his suits. He leaned back into the chair to stretch his back, picking up the papers so he wouldn't have to stop reading.

Bruce didn't usually hear much through the thick walls surrounding the lab. The walls had been made soundproof to stop the sounds of blaring music—and explosions. But Bruce never dabbled in that field of science; that was Tony's job.

But today, muffled voices were being allowed to make their way into the vast lab, and they were sparking Bruce's curiosity. He listened closer, placing the papers back down on the desk. He recognized it as Thor's voice now, and he sounded angry. Bruce left the lab in search for the conversation that seemed to be irritating Thor.

He found them quite easily because of how far Thor's voice carries.

Bruce entered the lounge, seeing Tony pouring himself a drink behind the bar, and Thor—looking quite angry—standing on the other side of it, gripping Mjolnir in his hand.

"It's nothing personal," Tony said, shrugging. He took a gulp of his drink before continuing. "He's just not on the top of my rescue list. If S.H.I.E.L.D. has him held somewhere, it's obviously for a reason."

Thor opened his mouth to say something, but he saw Bruce before he did. Tony eyes followed Thor's, and he noticed him, too.

"Bruce! Finally, some sense in the room," Tony said, glancing at Thor pointedly.

Thor's jaw clenched. Bruce cleared his throat and took a few steps inside the room. "What's going on?" Bruce asked.

"Thor's broth—" Tony started, but he was interrupted.

"Loki's back on Midgard, but he's been kidnapped by S.H.E.I.L.D.," Thor said, now facing Bruce.

Bruce took that in for a moment. He wasn't sure if "kidnapped" was the right word or not. "Are you sure he's not there on purpose again?"

"Yes," Thor replied boldly.

"But how do you know?" Tony said. By the look on Thor's face, Bruce came to the conclusion that it was not the first time Tony had asked him the same question in the last ten minutes.

"I'm sure we can figure this out," Bruce said, looking to Thor. "When was the last time you saw Loki?"

"On Asgard, last week."

"Okay. Is there any chance he could've escaped?" Bruce asked, folding his arms.

"Escaped?" Thor asked, tilting his head slightly.

Bruce nodded. "Yes, escaped from... wait, you didn't contain him?"

Thor's eyebrows lifted. "Contain him?"

"Yes, _contain_ him. As in imprison him," Tony said slowly.

"I did no such thing. Of course, he was questioned and held for a few days, but nothing more," Thor said, seeming slightly offended. "He posed no threat to Asgard when he returned there."

"So you're saying he had free rein to do as he wished? To come back here with another army?" Tony said incredulously. His drink had been placed back down on the bar, forgotten.

"You know nothing of what truly happened, man of iron," Thor said accusingly.

"I was there when he tried to take over the entire planet," Tony reminded him. "Who's to say he won't try again?"

"He will not attempt it again, this I can swear to you. He was not alone in his endeavors, and if it had not been for the others, he would not have done what he did."

"That's convenient. The 'others,' sure..."

Bruce decided it probably wasn't a good idea to allow them to continue. "Stop it."

Thor and Tony both looked at him.

"Fighting isn't going to help anything, it never does," Bruce said, looking back and forth between them.

Thor's grip on Mjolnir loosened. "Fair enough. But I'm going to him, no matter if anyone comes with me or not. I was simply giving you the choice."

"Choice to what?" said a new voice from behind Bruce. They all looked to the doorway to see Steve had walked in.

Tony spoke first. "Thor says Loki was kidnapped by S.H.I.E.L.D., and he's going to go and get him." Bruce couldn't help but notice how much Tony sounded like a child who was tattling on someone.

Steve's eyebrows furrowed. "Why would they kidnap Loki?"

Bruce had to admit, that wasn't the question he thought Steve would ask. He was thinking it would be around the lines of what Tony had said, but nicer.

"Because he's a war criminal? Man, am I the only one who woke up today and remembered when he tried to take over the world?" Tony said, obviously worked up about it all.

"That's not what I meant. What I meant was, why did they have the chance? I thought he was on Asgard," Steve said.

"He wasn't imprisoned on Asgard," Bruce said, hoping to stop another on of Tony's jabs.

"Why?" Steve asked, sounding completely calm and curious.

Thor looked over at him. "Because he didn't need to be." He noticed Steve's confusion and continued.

"When Loki was here, when he tried to take over Midgard, he wasn't himself. When he was returned to Asgard, he also returned to his older self. I do not expect any of you to understand this, because you had never met him before and you don't know him. But I do."

"So you're saying he was being controlled somehow while he was here," Steve said.

"Not exactly," Thor said, looking pained that it had to be this difficult to explain. "But something like that."

Bruce listened to Thor's explanation, his mind working through the information and making connections to Thor's behavior during the battle—or what he remembered of it, anyway. He did remember that before Thor had ever tried to fight his brother, he tried to reason with him, as if to try and make him see sense.

"And you said you're going to go and check things out, Thor?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Thor said, nodding once. "I know something is not right, and I must help him."

Steve nodded. "I'll go with you."

Tony nearly did a spit take. "What?"

"We're a team now," Steve said. "If Thor says something's wrong, I believe him."

Bruce could tell that Tony really didn't like the idea. He wasn't even sure if _he _did.

Tony rolled his eyes slightly. "Fine, then. A team's a team. Count me in."

Bruce exhaled quietly, still unsure about it. But if he was going to be a part of this team, of the Avengers, he had to participate somehow. "I'll keep up the communication in the quinjet," he said. "I don't think I need to be out in the field, especially if it's anywhere near S.H.I.E.L.D.."

Bruce sighed at the newly made plan. He knew something was wrong, but whether or not it was Loki being kidnapped, he wasn't sure.

"Alright then," Tony said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Let's go save ourselves a super villain."


	2. The Trap

_Deliverance_

_Chapter Two – The Trap_

* * *

He was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists so that his feet barely touched the floor. He sucked in a ragged breath and then slowly exhaled. It was more painful than breathing ought to be, he knew, but he expected no less due to the recent injuries to his rib cage. He went into another coughing fit, this time coughing up blood. He watched as it oozed from his mouth and onto the floor below him, gagging on the metallic substance.

His head perked up when the heavy cell door opened again. He didn't like the fear growing inside of him.

"Loki," the gruff voice said.

It was the same man who had come everyday to ask him questions. He wasn't the only one, but he was the most persistent. The man was short, strong, had a crew cut and a wore some sort of uniform Loki couldn't recognize. He was the one who told the bigger, bulkier man to torture Loki as needed.

"Mortal," Loki greeted, spitting blood out of his mouth and onto the floor.

The man, who apparently did not give away his name to his prisoners, stepped closer. Now he was in the spotlight that shined from directly above Loki, casting a shadow on both of their faces.

"Are you prepared to talk?" the man asked.

That had been his quest for as long as Loki had been there, which was at least three days. He couldn't tell when the days changed at first, because of the lack of windows, but soon he calculated the amount of times the man and the others had questioned him, the time in between brutal visits from the bulky man who did the dirty work, or the amount of times they gave him water and food—little sips of water and pieces of bread. He had refused the offerings at first, not wanting to succumb to their wants, but his thirst and hunger overpowered him at the end of the second day. Now, on the third day, they had given him nothing. He supposed it was punishment for not telling them anything.

"I am talking," Loki pointed out.

The man clenched his jaw. He had undoubtedly grown tired of Loki's snide comments days ago, but Loki had no other choice than to use them.

"Yes," the man said slowly, taking another step closer to the god hanging from the ceiling. "But not about what I want you to talk about."

Loki stared at him defiantly, though he knew he must have looked anything but menacing; his hair was tangled and hiding part of his face, he was shirtless, bloody, sweaty, and he could barely utter a word without struggle.

"And what's that?" Loki inquired, feigning curiosity.

"Who do you work for?" he insisted.

Loki stared at him blankly. After a moment, he slowly let a smirk play on his lips.

The man noticed. "What are you smiling at?"

When Loki didn't answer, the man took a step back and folded his hands behind his back.

"Bring him in," he called to the door.

Loki tensed, knowing what came next. The tall, muscular man stepped in then. He had that wicked smile on his face, as he always did, as he walked to Loki. The shorter man walked out.

"Heard you haven't been cooperating," the torturer said nonchalantly, pulling his hands into the long, familiar gloves.

Loki started to breathe faster and struggled to free himself. Again, for what seemed to be the millionth time, he tired to muster any magic he could, but nothing came to him. He was still helpless.

The man stood in front of him, looking him in the eyes. Loki raised his chin and tried to crane his head away from the man's hand wrapping itself around his throat. He grunted and tried to get away from him, but it did nothing. Fortunately, the man did not tighten his hand around his neck; he used the position to face Loki's face towards him. At least he wasn't choking him.

But the relief was short lived.

* * *

"How much longer?" Steve asked.

Bruce glanced behind him from where he sat in the pilot's seat. "Not long."

"Thor and Tony are probably already there," Steve commented.

Bruce nodded. "Probably."

Steve took a deep breath. He knew something was off with the whole situation; how did S.H.I.E.L.D. get a hold of Loki again? Steve would have bet money that Loki wouldn't let that happen again, not after the defeat he suffered. And Thor... Wouldn't he have locked him up? Thor wasn't stupid, that was obvious. So why wouldn't he lock him up, knowing he was dangerous? But the speech Thor gave could explain that. That he was 'back to normal,' so to speak. That being said, why would S.H.I.E.L.D. want him? Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't believe Loki's kindness act, if that's what it was. Steve's head was spinning.

He sat in the copilot seat. "What do you think?"

Bruce double-glanced him. "I'm sorry?"

"About the mission," Steve clarified.

"Oh," Bruce said. He thought about it for a moment. "It's definitely something that we can't hope to understand yet. Especially considering most of the information we need is on another planet."

"Except we have Thor," Steve said.

"Well, yes," Bruce said. "But his opinion might be biased about his own brother. He could see good in him that used to be there, but isn't anymore."

Steve pondered on that. Bruce could be right, but he wasn't sure. And he wouldn't be until he knew good and well that Loki made no threat to Earth anymore.

"We're nearing their location," Bruce stated.

They had followed Tony, who had been following Thor, because he said he knew where Loki was. Tony had suited-up and followed him, letting the quinjet and its passengers follow his signal. After ten minutes of following the signal, they found themselves engulfed in clouds above the ocean, miles and miles away from the shore. When they lowered the quinjet beneath the cloud cover, descending closer to the water, they saw what looked like the helicarrier. They flew towards it, looking to land on its massive deck.

But something wasn't right, Steve realized.

"Wait," Steve said urgently. "That's not the helicarrier."

It became obvious as they got closer. It was much smaller than the helicarrier, and it didn't harbor but one jet on the deck. It had no S.H.I.E.L.D. insignias anywhere, and no soldiers on the deck. Bruce made the quinjet stop moving towards the vessel and looked to Steve for what to do next.

Steve pulled his mask on. What was this place? If Thor had brought them to it, that meant Loki was there. But who controlled the vessel was what he was worried about. Thinking through what the plan should be, Steve turned to look at Bruce.

"Can you get in contact with Stark or Thor?"

Bruce nodded and pressed a few buttons on the console. He flipped one final switch, which seemed to be out of order; the sound of static came out of the speakers.

"I take that back," Bruce said. "I can't get in contact with them. Something's jamming the signal."

Steve's eyebrows knitted together. If Tony and Thor already warned them about the vessel not being S.H.I.E.L.D.'S, they wouldn't have heard it.

"Get her close enough for me to jump," Steve instructed. "Then take her above the clouds again. I'll take my ear piece just in case. Tony should still have his, too."

Bruce position the quinjet so that they hovered thirty feet above the deck.

"Can you make it?" Bruce asked, prepared to lower the quinjet lower. But Steve confirmed that he was able, so he steadied the aircraft and opened the side door.

"Steve," Bruce called after Steve, just before he jumped.

"Yeah?"

"What is it?" Bruce asked, referring to the vessel.

Steve slipped his arm in his shield's strap and placed both hands on either side of the open door, readying himself to jump. "It's a trap."

Steve jumped out of the door. It closed after he was gone, and Bruce started to retreat back to the clouds. Steve started running across the deck, towards a door.

* * *

As the voices grew louder, Thor ran into a side room and cracked the door. He had been waiting for someone to appear, waiting with his back against a wall around the corner. He watched out of the crack as two men, one tall and muscular and one short and small, walked by. They were speaking of what they were going to eat for lunch. Thor's eyes widened as he noticed the blood on the larger man's sleeves, the way the stains cut off below his elbows, and how nonchalant he was about it. This man must have been ruthless, and that only heightened as he spoke jokingly of how the prisoner will not be be eating today, or tomorrow, or the day after that...

Prisoner. _Loki. _They would treat him like the alien he was to them, and possibly worse if he didn't do as they said. Which, knowing Loki, he wouldn't. Thor knew exactly was happening, now.

He jumped out of the closet with a shout, grabbing the bloody-armed man and shoving him against the wall of the corridor. He left Mjolnir a few feet behind him.

"Whoa, there!" the shorter man said. Thor ignored him.

"Where is he?" Thor boomed, his forearm against the man's throat, pressing him against the wall with the other. Without an answer, Thor clenched his jaw and summoned Mjolnir to his hand.

"Thor," the shorter man warned.

Thor headbutted the pinned man and turned to the shorter one. Maybe he would have answers. The small man watched the large one fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Where is my brother?" Thor asked warningly, quieter this time.

"You mean Loki, correct?" he questioned.

Thor took a step closer to him. "Yes. Where is he?"

"By now he's probably choking on his blood," he said carelessly.

Thor growled and grabbed him by the lab coat. He shook him violently.

"Where?!" he screamed.

The man's hands were in the air. He carefully pointed with his right hand, motioning to another corridor.

"Down that way," he gulped. "He's in the torture room."

Thor was disgusted. He roughly threw him on top of the other one and walked into the corridor.

* * *

Tony caught the man's punch and twisted his wrist with a deafening _crack_, making the attacker fall down and clutch his wrist. Tony glanced around at the five men who had attacked him. He had known it wasn't the helicopter when they arrived, obviously, but he had still thought it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel. Everyone knew they had more than they said they did. But when they entered the vast catacombs of corridors and small rooms, he realized something was off. No agents, no bustling people, no sound at all. Thor had disappeared without a word, and since he refused to wear a comm-link, Tony had no way of contacting him.

After he had moved into another corridor, he contacted the quinjet.

"Hostiles on board," he informed them. "This isn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. carrier, whatever it is."

He opened the line for their response, but he only heard static.

"Hello? Bruce, Steve?"

Nothing. The static was constant and consistent. He shut the line off.

He had JARVIS search for life forms on the vessel. On the lineless map playing out in front of his eyes he saw himself, the group of five guys he had disarmed and disabled, two more about 50 yards away, two unmoving ones 100 yards away, one only 20 yards away, one all alone on the other side of the ship, and one making its way to the one who was alone. He prepared himself for the one that was closest by determining which direction it was coming from and stepping behind a corner, hiding himself.

He heard fast-moving footsteps. When he thought they were close enough, he stepped around the corner, hand out in front of him. His repulsor charged with life, ready to blast at his command.

"Whoa!" Steve shouted, shield in front of him, protecting himself from the expected impact.

Tony shut the repulsor off. "Steve."

Steve nodded once. "It's not a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship."

"Nope," Tony said, lifting his mask. He looked around them. "Thor ran off somewhere and then I was attacked by uniformed men."

"I just arrived," Steve said. "Bruce is in the quinjet monitoring the communications, but something was jamming the signal up there. I'm going to try to get in contact with him, maybe it'll work from down here."

"Don't bother, the communication is a no-go. I tried."

Steve was obviously concerned, as was Tony, but he knew they had to concentrate on finding Thor and possibly Loki, all while escaping more attacks.

Steve made a motion toward his helmet. "Can you tell where Thor is?"

"I can't pinpoint him exactly, but I can guess," Tony said. "Over here."

They walked, trying to stay relatively quiet, towards the dot that Tony guessed was Thor. He chose the dot because it was moving the fastest, and it was moving towards another dot which Tony thought may be Loki. They noticed the many doors and cut-off corridors at every turn, both curious as to what was in all of them, but they resisted and kept moving. Tony stopped when they caught up with the dot, and Steve echoed his movements. Tony pointed to a door, which sat just a few other doors away.

But the door was locked.

* * *

Thor had been searching for Loki ever since he had encountered the two men. He didn't come across anyone else in the long corridor the man had sent him in, which was worrying. Had they tipped other aggressors off to his location?

Thor concluded that it did not matter. He was going to save Loki, find the rest of the team, and leave this place. They would find out who worked here later, but that was not his first priority.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard a muffled voice. As he listened, he realized the voice was not speaking, but rather moaning. He located the source of the sound and tried to enter the room, but the door was locked. He grunted and kicked open the door. It crashed to the ground, revealing the dark room.

And there was Loki, hanging by his wrists from the ceiling, head lolling forward, and moaning in pain.

As Thor ran to him, he noticed all of the blood. His brother's chest was cut and bruised, a mixture of dry and fresh blood covering it. Blood was oozing from his mouth, and his wrists were completely and utterly raw, as shown by the blood stains down his arms.

"Loki," Thor grieved, reaching up and tearing the chains that held him. Loki screamed out just at his arms being lowered. Thor did not want to know how long he had been in that position. He caught Loki when he couldn't stand anymore and held him as he coughed up blood.

Loki grabbed at Thor's arms and steadied himself on shaking legs. He had a million questions in his eyes as he looked at his older brother, but Thor watched as the curious look turned into a horrified one. He tried to say something, but Thor couldn't understand him.

Thor held his brother's shoulders. "What is it, brother?" he asked worriedly.

Loki managed to talk through the blood. "It's... It's a trap."

"What is? The ship?"

"All of it," Loki said distressingly. "The whole thing. The ship, you coming here, the mortals coming with you..."

"It's alright," Thor reassured. "Just try not to—"

"No, it's not alright! You fell for it! I was fine, I could have gotten out!" Loki shouted, trying to get away from Thor's hands.

Thor held him all the tighter, trying to calm him. "Loki, calm down. Everything will be—"

_SLAM._

They were plunged into complete darkness as the door shut and the only light went off. Now Thor knew Loki was right. There was was no doubting that it was a trap now.

* * *

_A/N: __This took longer to update than I expected. But yay, I f__inally got it edited and ready to publish for you guys! Sorry about that, I'll try and be faster for you lovelies._

_Thank you for reading! And p__lease review, I really would appreciate it._


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